Paper short abstract:

This paper attempts to link what Blaikie and Brookfield terms "environmental symptoms" with the changes in post-displacement Bakun in terms of access and new economic conditions.

Paper long abstract:

This paper looks at the biodiversity effects of dispossession by dam-induced displacement on the upper Balui by the Bakun Hydroelectric Dam. Pre-displacement, protein in the diet of the Orang Ulu communities were brought home by fishermen, and hunters. Favoured species are mainly ungulates, including the bearded pig, muntjacs, mousedeer, sambar and some arboreal mammals, such as the various civet species. An extensive and intensive camera trapping exercise over nearly two years, yielding over 22,000 camera trap images and videos show that animal behaviour has changed, and extinction is starting to happen on the lake, radiating outwards from the jetty. Talking with the hunters, I discover a formerly integral longhouse demographic struggling to remain relevant in the post-displacement environment.